TwiddleGeek

Though the Subspace Emissary mode took me just over 10 hours, I have to say Brawl felt shorter than I expected. Perhaps that’s because unlocking everything simply requires a single play through of SSE, where as I’m used to meeting some rather lengthy requirements to unlock all the characters. One can argue this method is better though, and I must admit I’d probably say preferred. Obviously the real play time of any Smash title is in the multi-player brawls. With online connectivity, Brawl ought to have more replay than Melee or 64.

Joined in on an online tournament over at EvAv and won my first round last night in a best of 3 match. Came down to two Sudden Death victories, so it certainly was a close match-up. YouTube links of the replays may even be available soon, but not quite yet. There’s a lot of little nagging changes in Brawl that are taking time to get used to, but overall I think it’s a good upgrade. Just that, for example, SpaceKitty and I noted that it seems harder both to pick up items from the ground or preform smash attacks rather than regular attacks at times.

We played for over two hours again last night with minimal lag, so I really must commend the online play of Smash. SpaceKitty absolutely owns me in getting the smash balls first, usually resulting in some spectacular deaths, but I’ve still got the edge in overall wins. Pikachu, Link, and Samus remains my go-to team, but Sonic is a lot of fun and SpaceKitty has found a liking for Lucario. I only find it a shame that Zero Suit Samus is terribly weak, making Samus’s final smash such a double-edged sword.

It’s finally here! It’s a little pointless to waste time telling you it’s a good game, so I’m just going to get straight to telling you how great it is. First off, all the reviewers are being way too hard on Subspace Emissary. This is a whole, lengthy, 8+ hour adventure just thrown in there on top of the already tried and true amazingness of Smash. Sure, the controls aren’t perfect and the enemies are generic — but it’s surprisingly good. What really helps are the awesome (and often funny) cut-scenes depicting some highly unlikely pairings. Diddy Kong and Fox, PK Trainer and Lucas, even Samus and Pikachu.

While it’s not going to win any awards for best story, there’s just something fun about Peach and Kirby riding away on a star together, or Yoshi and Link fighting together. It never seems to make up it’s mind just how in-world it’s trying to be, though. For example, Zelda is spectating at a stadium tournament, yet Link is off pulling the Master Sword from the Sacred Woods. One could perhaps argue he’s readying for the oncoming evil, but with no dialog it’s not always clear what to think. Characters pop back into trophies and nobody is surprised at this. Even still, the whole dang thing is a love-letter to the fans.

Online play has been great so far. SpaceKitty and I started up a game last night, and despite being launch night and us a few thousand miles apart, it worked great. I could feel maybe a split second lag at worst, but it worked fine even with two CPUs thrown into the mix as well. I played a few “Anyone” rounds later and was randomly matched up with 3 other people, and it worked without a hitch. Not being able to see names or save contacts rather sucks, but you can continue after the end of the round, which does help the feeling of playing against real people.

I’ve only unlocked a few of the characters, but so far I like the newcomers and the changes to the vets. My favorites are still Link, Samus, and Pikachu… but Pit is quickly proving to be a useful addition. PK Trainer is just fun to use, while characters like Diddy are a bit less so. Captain Olimar just… well, sucks. I don’t see how he has any use at all, frankly. All in all the game feels beefed up in the graphical details, plays faster than Melee, and generally just feels well polished. I’m mixed on the stages so far, most are good but too many involve movement. Regardless, I’m really enjoying it.

Rating:

To picture Revenant Wings, imagine a game that’s a cross between the characters and action-based fighting system of Final Fantasy XII, and a sort of Final Fantasy Real Time Strategy game. That is, Revenant Wings isn’t a typical Tactical RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics, FFTA, Disgaea or so forth, it focuses more on a RTS style battle system of “capture resource, make units. Select group, point, click.” What this means is you’ll be less concerned with each individual unit, and more concerned with the group and resources of the map.

This isn’t Starcraft either though, in that the only “resources” you have to manage are basically the summon points and perhaps a soul crystal. Take your enemies’ summon points, and the tide of the battle slowly turns in your favor. Each group of subunits (healers, ranged fighters, melee fighters, flying creatures) are lead by a main party character, and these characters have some of the strongest battle abilities. Perhaps imagine something vaguely like the hero system of Warcraft III.

Revenant Wings is at times a little light on the strategy and heavy on the point-and-click mobbing with a swarm of units, but in the later levels of the game a fairly careful battle must be played or strong foes will easily overwhelm your units and wipe out the party. The frustration of failure is equaled by the joy of success though, and the game’s lengthy 18+ hour campaign clips along with minimal drag and only a little level grinding. If you like RTS games and the idea of one that continues the story of FFXII and stars familiar characters appeals to you, then check out Revenant Wings.

If you haven’t already heard the raving praises being piled onto Super Mario Galaxy, you are clearly out of the proverbial loop. I probably don’t need to tell you that it’s a fantastic game, but I’m going to add my two cents anyway.

The game starts us off with the same story as always: Princess Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser, yet again (why don’t they staple her to the floor already?). A few new characters come to Mario’s aid - the Lumas, personified stars, and their leader, Rosalina, a Peach-look-alike with a big, albeit broken, starship. To restore the ship and pursue Bowser, Mario must hop across various galaxies to collect stars. While the story is clearly flimsy… who really cares?

Also, while the Wii’s graphics are obviously not on par with the other consoles of its generation, again I must ask, does it matter? Galaxy is bright and colorful, with appropriate cartoon style. And it has bunnies. The music is catchy as well, with a number of tracks that are revitalized renderings of classic Mario music. The voice acting is… awful, but thankfully very limited.

While it’s certainly not one of the hardest games out there, the difficulty curve is appreciable. Early levels can be quite simple, while some of the later ones are likely to trump you on your first try… or your first few tries (”Luigi’s Purple Coins” is now a registered SpaceKitty torture method). Most bosses follow the same pattern: the first few hits are cake, but getting that last one requires a step up. … (Read More)